High speed counter with spaced numerals



Sept. 27, 1955 H. N. BLISS HIGH SPEED COUNTER WITH SFACED NUMERALS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 7, 1952 INVENTOR. HAPVEY BL/SS A T ORNEYS Sept. 27, 1955 I H. N. BLISS 2,719,004

HIGH; SPEED COUNTER WITH SPACED NUMERALS Filed Aug. '7, 1952 L' 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F/G4 F/G..5

U U O|54| 739 01352540 54 U I] 0| 35395 U 02354062 0235mm p1 02356284 U 02357595 D A 024584106 02459157 INVENTOR. HARVEY [BL/55 TORNE Y5 United States Patent HIGH SPEED COUNTER WITH SPACED NUMERALS Harvey N. Bliss, Windsor, Conn., assignor to Veeder- Root, Incorporated, Hartford, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application August 7, 1952, Serial No. 303,119

3 Claims. (Cl. 235-1) The present invention relates to registers or counters and is directed more particularly to a register or counter of the type which will register up to a number whose first two digits are other than a multiple of ten and then reset on continued operation. Such a counter is shown, for example, in my prior Patent 2,420,808, granted May 20, 1947.

A counter of the type referred to here is particularly adapted but not limited for use as a register of the amount of rotary or angular movement of a member or mechanism and it serves to indicate the rotated or angular position of the member or mechanism at any time with respect to a fixed reference point. When used for this special purpose the counter may be calibrated, for example, in degrees or mils.

In counters of the character to which the present invention pertains the number wheel of highest order contains the complete range of the first two digits of the count to be registered instead of only the numerals '0 through 9, as in a conventional number wheel. In a 360-degree counter, for example, the number wheel of highest order carries the numbers 0 through 3.5, and in a 6400-mil counter, for example, the number wheel of highest order carries the numbers 0 through 63. As will be apparent, the counters return to zero at the 360 and and 6400 counts, respectively.

In my prior patent above referred to, there is disclosed an arrangement whereby the number wheel ofhighest order may be provided with relatively large numerals despite the relatively .long sequence of numerals carried 'by the number wheel. In accordance with my prior invention, the number wheel of highest order is made in the form of a drum or wide cylinder containing the first two digits arranged sequentially in a plurality of circumferentially arranged rows and it is read through the combination therewith of a specially constructed and actuated shutter having a viewing opening registering with the column containing the particular .numeral 'to be read at any given instant. The disadvantage of such an arrangement heretofore and prior to the present invention has been the matter of quick and easy readability of the first two digits. If a relatively wide drum is used and the numbers are spaced out .over a great many circumferential rows in order to furnish large indicia, then the shutter viewing opening at the beginning of .the count is spaced at relatively long distance from .the remaining number wheels and is relatively close at the completion of the count. In other words, the location of the shutter opening varies over a wide range longitudinally of the counter and the digits of the number to be read are not balanced and uniformly spaced since the first two digits may appear at widely spaced points and the relationship thereof with the remaining numbers of the count is not readily apparent. This renders the counter difficult to read and that is particularly true when you are dealing with an extremely "high speed counter of the type to which the present invention may 'be applied.

Accordingly, itlis an object of the present invention to ice provide a number system and shutter arrangement for use with the number wheel of highest order of a counter of the character referred to here which will permit the use of numerals of large size and which at the same time will render it possible to maintain a uniform and only slightly varying spacing of the numerals, rendering the counter more readily and quickly readable.

A further object of the invention is to accomplish such an arrangement in a counter which will be simple and easy to construct and assemble, which will be susceptible of variation to conform to the desired characteristics of size and spacing, etc., and which is universally adaptable to all possible counts in which the first two digits are not a multiple of ten.

Other objects will be in part obvious, and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which 'Will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings;

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a counter embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a similar view of the counter with the cover removed and with the Wheels and transfer mechanism in cross section;

Fig. 3 is a front view of the shutter; Fig. 4 is a developed view of the shutter shown in Fig.

Fig. 5 is a developed view of the indicia of the number wheel of highest order;

Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 66 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 77 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings in detail, an exemplary counter in which my invention has been embodied is shown mounted in a generally rectangular boxlike casing 10 having end walls 11 and 12 and provided with a cover plate 13. Journaled between the end walls 11 and 12 are two shafts 14 and 15. The shaft 14 has an extension extending outwardly through the journal 16 for attachment to the associated device or mechanism or element with which the counter is to be used. The shaft 14 serves a dual function as the .driveshaft and as the number wheel supporting shaft. The shaft 15, which generally parallels the shaft 14, carries the transfer mechanism, to be more particularly described hereinafter.

Pinned to the shaft 14 at the right hand end thereof,

.as viewed inFigs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, is the number wheel of lowest order having the reference numeral 20.

In the particular counter selected for illustration in the drawings, the counter is one which will count up to 6400 mils and accordingly the number wheel of lowest order, which has the numerals 0 through 9 on its periphery, indicates units and hereinafter will be referred to as the units wheel.

Disposed to the left of the units number wheel 20, as viewed in Figs. 1 and '2, and in side by side relationship therewith, is a number wheel of higher order 22 hearing on its periphery the indicia 0 through 9, and which will be referred to hereinafter as the tens number wheel. The tens number wheel 22 is freely rotatable on the shaft 14 and is adapted to be driven intermittently by the number wheel 20 so that the number wheel 22 is advanced one count 'for each revolution of the number wheel 20.

The particular-transfer mechanism selected for accomplishing the intermittent driving of the number wheel 22 by the number wheel 20 is of the type shown in my prior Patent 2,483,359, grantedSept. 27, 1949. As best shown in Figs. 2 and 6 of the drawings, there is loosely mounted on the shaft a transfer unit comprising a mutilated pinion having fixed thereto a transfer plate 31. The mutilated pinion 30 comprises a plurality of alternately narrow and wide teeth 32 for cooperation with a driven gear 33 fixed to the tens number wheel 22. The alternate wide teeth of the mutilated pinion 30 cooperate with a locking disc 34 fixed to the adjacent side of the units number wheel 20. The transfer plate 31 is provided with radially extending slots 35 which cooperate with a pin 36 secured on the units number wheel 20. As will be apparent, on each rotation of the units number wheel 20, the pin 36 will enter one of the slots 35 in the transfer plate 31 and thereby rotate the disc one-quarter turn, which at the same time will turn the mutilated pinion 30, which is in mesh with the driven gear 33, the gear ratio being such that the tens number wheel 22 is advanced one-tenth revolution. The notch 37 in the locking disc 34 is situated in alignment with the pin 36 so as to unlock the transfer mechanism during the transfer movement.

Also freely mounted on the shaft 14 and situated to the left of the tens number wheel 22, as viewed in Figs. 1 and 2, is a numeral member A comprising an elongated hub 49 on which is mounted a wide cylinder or drum 41.

A brace 42 extends between the hub 40 and the drum 41 and the hub 40 also has a flange 43 for engagement with the cup-shaped end portion 44 of the drum.

The numeral member A is driven by the tens number wheel 22 through a transfer mechanism consisting of a pinion and mutilated pinion 51. The pinion 50 is formed with a hub 52 which is loosely mounted on the shaft 15 and spaced from pinion 30 by a collar 49. Pinion 50 is aligned and meshes with the driven gear 53 fixed to the hub 46. Supported on and fixed to the hub 52 is the mutilated pinion 51 bearing alternate wide and narrow teeth 55. The narrow and wide teeth cooperate with a two-tooth driving gear 56 fixed to the hub of the number wheel 22. The alternate wide teeth cooperate with the usual locking plate 57, which is similarly fixed to the hub of the number wheel 22. As will be apparent, each time the number wheel 22 is rotated one revolution, it will rotate the pinion 50 through a partial revolution which, in turn, will actuate the driven gear 53, thus causing a partial revolution of the drum 41.. t

A notch 58 in the locking plate 57 aligned with the twotooth gear 56 unlocks the transfer mechanism during a transfer operation.

Fixed on a hub 60, loosely mounted on the left-hand end of shaft 14, as viewed in Fi s. 1 and 2, is a cylindrical shutter B, which is best shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The shutter B is of slightly larger diameter than the drum 41 and receives the latter in telescoping fashion. The shutter B is adapted to be intermittently rotated or indexed by the numeral member A and for this purpose, the shaft 15 is formed adjacent its midpoint with a mutilated pinion 62 and there is fixed to the left hand thereof, as viewed in Fig. 2, a pinion 63. For added strength, the portion of shaft 15 between pinions 62 and 63 is formed with an enlarged diameter. The mutilated pinion 62 cooperates with a two-toothed driving gear 64 and a locking disc 65 fixed to the hub 49. The pinion 63 meshes with a driven gear 66 fixed to the left hand end of the hub 60. As will be apparent, upon each revolution of the drum 41, the mutilated pinion 62 is partially rotated which, in turn, causes the pinion 63 to partly rotate the shutter 61. The notch 67 in locking disc 65, which is radially aligned with the two-tooth driving gear 64, unlocks the indexing mechanism during indexing movement.

The cover plate 13 is provided with an elongated window 79 containing a glass pane 71 extending transversely across the number wheels and parallel to the axis thereof. A face plate 72 beneath the glass 71 contains a first opening 73 through which units number wheel 20 may be read, a second opening 74 through which the tens number wheel 22 may be read, and an elongated opening 75 through which the numeral member A as revealed by shutter B may be read.

The combination of elements as thus far described is substantially the same as that shown in my prior Patent 2,420,808.

In accordance with the present invention the drum 41 of the numeral member A is provided with a novel arrangement of numbers cooperating with correlated pairs of openings in the shutter B whereby the numerals viewed through the window 70 will have a symmetrical and generally balanced appearance rendering the counter susceptible of quicker, easier and more accurate reading.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly Fig. 5, it will be seen that the numeral member A is provided on its periphery with a plurality of circumferentially arranged columns containing in consecutive order a plurality of trains of recurrent digits and a plurality of similarly arranged columns 81 containing a plurality of sequences of different digits, the numerals in each sequence being in consecutive order. In the specific embodiment shown in the drawings, the trains of recurrent digits occurring consecutively in columns 80 comprise ten of each of the numerals 0 through 5, inclusive, and a last train comprising four sixes while the sequences of different digits occurring consecutively in columns 81 comprise the numerals 0 through 9, inclusive, repeated five times plus a final sequence composed of the numerals 0 through 3, inclusive. As a result of this arrangement, there is provided a separate numeral in columns 81 to form the last digit of each of the numbers 0 through 63 and there is provided in columns 8d a separate numeral to form the corresponding first digit of each of the said numbers. Therefore, by reading the first numeral of the first of columns 80 with the first numeral of the first of columns 81 and continuing in this fashion through these columns in consecutive order, all of the numbers from 00 to 63 can be realized.

To provide for reading of the proper numerals in consecutive order, the shutter B is arranged with sight openings which are arranged in diagonal rows 91, as best shown in Fig. 4, alfording consecutive pairs of openings, as for example openings 90a and 90b, equally spaced apart longitudinally of the shutter but each succeeding pair being spaced longitudinally from the preceding pair so as to register consecutively with consecutive columns of the columns 80 and 81. At least two diagonal rows 91 are required to cover the complete range, although additional rows as shown in Fig. 4 may be employed to cut down on the amount of indexing movement of the shutter required. The number of pairs of openings in any sequence provided by the diagonal rows 91 must be equal to the number of columns 80 or 81 which are to be read.

In the specific embodiment shown in the drawings, the transfer gearing between the tens numeral wheel 22 and the numeral member A is in such ratio that, upon each complete turn of the number wheel 22 and during the transfer movement when the numeral uppermost on the number wheel 22 changes from 9 to 0, the numeral member A is rotated turn which is the inverse of the number of numerals in each of the columns 80 and 81. At the completion of each complete revolution of the numeral member A causing indexing of the shutter B, the gear ratio is such that the shuter B is indexed turn, this being the inverse of the number of pairs of openings 90 in the shutter B. As a result, each complete revolution of the number wheel 22 will be registered by the appearance of a consecutive pair of numerals of columns 80 and 81 beneath the shutter openings 90 which are then aligned with window 70 and then, upon each complete revolution of the numeral member A, the indexing of the shutter brings a new pair of openings 90 into the window 70 which shifts the reading to the next of columns 80 and 81, thus beginning another consecutive set of readings as the numeral member A is rotated. This operation continues until all of the pairs of numerals have been exhibited, in this specific instance up to a reading of 63 for the numeral member A or 6399 for the complete counter, following which the entire reading changes to zero, the shutter being indexed to bring a duplicate of the first pair of openings 90 into the window 70.

In order to obtain a proper reading, each of the columns 8t and 81 must be of the same length extending about the circumference of numeral member A and the numbers in adjacent columns must be in alignment longitudinally of the numeral member A. This is simple to accomplish with any evenly divisible number once the principle of operation of my invention is understood. In the specific example shown in the drawings, the columns 81 must contain sixty-four numerals in sequences of consecutive numerals, as previously explained. Since sixty-four is evenly divisible by two, four, eight, etc., the numbers may be divided into that many even columns 81 containing thirty-two, sixteen or eight numerals each. In the specific embodiment, four columns 81, each containing sixteen numerals, has been selected because that provides numerals of desired size compared with the numerals on number wheels 26 and 22. If a 360-degree counter were to be formed, then the required thirty-six digits in columns Sll might conveniently be divided into three columns each containing twelve numerals, for example. Once the number of columns 81 is selected, an equal number of columns 80 is required and these columns are then composed of the trains of recurrent digits beginning with the numeral zero.

As a result of the foregoing arrangement, and as best illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, the first two digits of the number being registered are conveniently spaced apart in a manner similar to the spacing of the last two digits provided by number wheels and 22. At the same time the reading is generally symmetrical and creates an impression of uniformity, all without loss of desired numeral size so that the operator can quickly, easily and accurately read the same, thus greatly enhancing the utility of the counter.

As many changes could be made in the above construction and many apparently Widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a counter, a generally cylindrical numeral member mounted for unlimited step-by-step rotary movement in one direction and having a first group of parallel spaced apart columns of figures extending circumferentially about the member containing a plurality of trains of recurrent digits and a second group of similarly arranged columns of figures containing a plurality of sequences of different digits, the digits in the various columns being equal in number and equally spaced apart to form successive longitudinal rows of digits, a casing having an elongated sight opening extending longitudinally of the numeral member and into registry with which the longitudinal rows of digits are to be successive ly brought, an indexible shutter between the numeral member and the sight opening having a plurality of pairs of openings, the openings of each pair being longitudinally spaced apart for cooperation, respectively, with one of said first group of columns and one of said second group of columns, said pairs of openings being displaced longitudinally and circumferentially from each other so as to cooperate with dilferent columns when the shutter is indexed, means for indexing the numeral member through a plurality of revolutions in stepwise fashion, and means for indexing the shutter in stepwise fashion upon each revolution of the numeral member.

2. In a counter, a generally cylindrical numeral member mounted for unlimited step-by-step rotary movement in one direction and having a first group of parallel spaced apart bands of figures extending circumferentially about the member containing a plurality of trains of recurrent digits, the recurrent digit in each successive train being one greater than the digit of the preceding train, and having a second group of parallel spaced apart bands of figures extending circumferentially about the member containing a plurality of sequences of different digits, said first and second groups of bands of figures being arranged in side by side relationship, the digits in the various bands being equal in number and equally spaced apart to form successive longitudinal rows of digits, a casing having an elongated sight opening extending longitudinally of the numeral member and into registry with which the longitudinal rows of digits are to be successively brought, an indexible shutter between the numeral member and the sight opening provided with diagonally arranged pairs of openings, the openings of each pair being adapted for cooperation with one band of each of said first and second groups, means for indexing the numeral member through a plurality of revoutions in stepwise fashion, and means for indexing the shutter in stepwise fashion upon each revolution of the numeral member.

3. In a counter, means for registering up to a predetermined number of two digits which is other than a multiple of ten and then repeating on continued operation comprising a, drum mounted for unlimited step-by-stcp rotary movement in one direction, a group of parallel circumferential bands of figures on said drum containing in succession all of the second digits of all of the numbers for zero to the predetermined number, said bands being formed of an equal number of digits, a second group of parallel circumferential bands of figures in side by side relationship with the first-named group containing in succession all of the first digits of all of the numbers from zero to the predetermined number, a casing having an elongated sight opening extending longitudinally of the drum, a rotary indexible shutter between the drum and sight opening provided with pairs of openings, each pair of openings being in registry with a different pair of bands containing the first and second digits, and said pairs of openings being displaced longitudinally and circumferentially from each other to cooperate with successive bands, means for indexing the drum through repeated revolutions in step by step manner, and means for indexing the shutter to align a different pair of openings with said sight opening upon each revolution of the drum.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,262,818 Reese Nov. 18, 1941 2,420,808 Bliss May 20, 1947 2,506,390 Sears May 2, 1950 

